Topic: Naby Keita Watch

[dangerpuss]

Actually our attack and defence are both better this season. We've scored two more this season compared to the first 8 games of last season. 15 versus 13. We've conceded only three this season compared to 12 last season.

[Fitzy.]

Actually our attack and defence are both better this season. We've scored two more this season compared to the first 8 games of last season. 15 versus 13. We've conceded only three this season compared to 12 last season.

Yep. Like-for-like comparisons indicate we are better than at this time last season. But it seems the vogue right now is to compare the current stats to our very best stats last season. Some cognitive dissonance taking place here.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Yep. Like-for-like comparisons indicate we are better than at this time last season. But it seems the vogue right now is to compare the current stats to our very best stats last season. Some cognitive dissonance taking place here.

Yup people have short memories.

[[new username under construction]]

Confidence is a wonderful thing

[Sharado]

Actually our attack and defence are both better this season. We've scored two more this season compared to the first 8 games of last season. 15 versus 13. We've conceded only three this season compared to 12 last season.

Bingo. Everyone seems to think last season was 38+ games of the first 70 minutes against Roma at home. We're still warming up. Klopp learnt his lesson in the first couple of seasons about how burnt out players get by his system, hence the slower start and stronger end to last year - though punctuated [again something long since forgotten] with relatively patchy league form towards the end that saw us get 4th on the very last day.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Bingo. Everyone seems to think last season was 38+ games of the first 70 minutes against Roma at home. We're still warming up. Klopp learnt his lesson in the first couple of seasons about how burnt out players get by his system, hence the slower start and stronger end to last year - though punctuated [again something long since forgotten] with relatively patchy league form towards the end that saw us get 4th on the very last day.

Exactly, the first two months up until the defeat at Wembley [which was towards the end of October] was incredibly frustrating.

[Sharado]

For me Ox started coming good in the Christmas period last year - his assist v burnley was the specific moment I thought he'd started to play well, which probably means he'd started a few games before. Reckon it'll be the same for Naby, Fab and Shaqiri.

With Naby it's a bit of a funny one as thought he was very good v west ham and he's died off a bit. Hope a run against less challenging teams sees him get his confidence back as he's a much better player than maybe he realizes at the minute.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

For me Ox started coming good in the Christmas period last year - his assist v burnley was the specific moment I thought he'd started to play well, which probably means he'd started a few games before. Reckon it'll be the same for Naby, Fab and Shaqiri.

With Naby it's a bit of a funny one as thought he was very good v west ham and he's died off a bit. Hope a run against less challenging teams sees him get his confidence back as he's a much better player than maybe he realizes at the minute.

Thought he was good against West Ham, against Palace, did what was needed when he came on against Leicester, thought he was very solid against Spurs and unlucky not to score..

[lionel_messias]

In my opinion, they all need to push forward a bit. We don't need to see Sadio and Firmino dropping into deep midfield all the time to get the ball.

Perhaps Fabinho as the deepest, number 6 player could unlock all of this, including Naby Keita. Get Fab in there, keeping it simple and passing forward and let Keita be that link man, going box to box. Fabinho, Keita, Henderson could be a brilliant midfield if both Naby and Hendo are giving freedom to get forward and unleash havoc.

I'm confident we will see more of Naby soon. We've been spoiled by Mo Salah; players don't just join Liverpool and triple their output from their old club while setting the world alight.

However look at the Ox and Andy Robertson, Klopp is simply brilliant at bedding players in, over TIME.

[wah00ey]

Remember how poor Ox looked in his first few games?  Note that Fabhino is being held back to get used to the system.  It might take Naby a while but he needs a run in the team and I think he'll get that now that the nightmare run is out of the way.

[AlexMills]

love this guy!

[Andy-oh-six]

Remember how poor Ox looked in his first few games?  Note that Fabhino is being held back to get used to the system.  It might take Naby a while but he needs a run in the team and I think he'll get that now that the nightmare run is out of the way.

He will definitely get a run with Milner out.

[harleydanger]

When is he due back?

[Petadroli]

When is he due back?

Hamstrings are normally 4-6 weeks right? So I would say beginning of December.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Hamstrings are normally 4-6 weeks right? So I would say beginning of December.

We dont know serious the injury is, it could be less than that. Milner recovered in 2 weeks

[TepidT2O]

My friends in Guinea said two weeks...

[JCB]

Yeah its interesting. We'd have killed for this start in almost any previous year yet people are non-plussed
A combination of City hitting 100 points and rolling through the league plus our attack running super hot for a period towards the end of last season has broken people's brains a bit

We've pulled the 'blanket' down a bit this season - our attack has been a bit less effective this season (so far) but our defence is now off the charts elite - we've hardly given up a big chance in the league so far. 3 goals conceded in 8 games (1 of which was self inflicted) is ridiculous. By most measures we have one of the best defences in Europe.
Thing is a good attack is much easier to understand / get excited about than good defence

Plus there's a very real prospect of us hitting a record points total for the club and losing the league - think that also explains the underlying disquiet

Was doing some analysis on Big Chances today and happened to see this post. Thought this might be of interest. The surprising result is Bournemouth and how well they fare on Big Chances overall.


(results are up to date and include yesterday's game; data based on Shots whose xG > 0.28)

[vagabond]

Only created 6 non-penalty big chances at home so far in 4 games? That will hopefully improve soon.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Back in training back running, not fit for tomorrow but should be fit too soon maybe by the weekend.

[JCB]

Only created 6 non-penalty big chances at home so far in 4 games? That will hopefully improve soon.

The alarming thing is that 4 of those where from the 1st game against Wet Ham, but if you think about it most teams set up not to concede at Anfield and therefore play a low block system and make it extremely hard for us to create these so called 'Big Chances'. Mind you that's no excuse as Man City probably have the same issue yet are blowing teams apart.

[deano2727]

Back in training back running, not fit for tomorrow but should be fit too soon maybe by the weekend.

Good news. The lad needs more game time over the coming weeks. There are some games that will give that opportunity.

[rocco]

Wondering does he speak  English

[KissThisGuy]

Wondering does he speak  English

For some reason I always associate players from the African countries with having good English, a bit like the Dutch. I don't know what that is based on, maybe I'm just a big racist.

[deano2727]

Wondering does he speak  English

I recall reading an interview with Skysports yesterday talking about leaving his own mark on the number 8 shirt. He said he wants to learn English in the same interview. Oh, and that he was struggling with the scouse accent. 

[Gods_Left_Boot]

Wondering does he speak  English

Not really, according to today's Talking Reds on the TAW youtube channel. They say he's taking courses and that he hopes to be able to speak properly and give interviews in English within 6 months or so.

[him_15]

Hopefully he will be fit for this weekend.

[Goalposts for Jumpers]

I recall reading an interview with Skysports yesterday talking about leaving his own mark on the number 8 shirt. He said he wants to learn English in the same interview. Oh, and that he was struggling with the scouse accent. 

I struggle with the scouse accent 

[JackWard33]

For some reason I always associate players from the African countries with having good English, a bit like the Dutch. I don't know what that is based on, maybe I'm just a big racist.

Depends which African country - think his French is the dominant Western language

Honestly the whole thing is a red herring. A ton of foreign players haven't had good english and done well here (not least Bobby). We signed him on the back of performances in a different country where his command of their language wasn't good.
For some reason some of the LFC podcasts seem obsessed with him not speaking English no idea why

[KissThisGuy]

Depends which African country - think his French is the dominant Western language

Honestly the whole thing is a red herring. A ton of foreign players haven't had good english and done well here (not least Bobby). We signed him on the back of performances in a different country where his command of their language wasn't good.
For some reason some of the LFC podcasts seem obsessed with him not speaking English no idea why

I don't think Tevez ever learnt English. It's only recently that Aguero has become competent enough to attempt interviews.

[Destiny]

Need him back soon, serious lack of creativity in our midfield.

[Jookie]

Need him back soon, serious lack of creativity in our midfield.

Has he created lots of chances this season so far? Assists wise I'm not sure he has. Think Milner has more. The fella who got the record number of assists in a CL campaign last season.

The idealised version of Keita, the one we saw highlights of for RBL, he was very creative. The fella we've seen so far isn't.

Now that's not to criticise him. He deserves time to get accustomed to all the new things he's taking on - system, language, league, new team mates etc.

But people shouldn't be calling for him to be our midfield saviour. He might be in the long run. But at the moment that is unfair on him and adds too much expectation on his short term performances. I'll be honest I would say so far he hasn't even closely resembled anything like a creative force in a red shirt. But that's fine as long a people recognise that it'll take him time to get there. Let's not blow smoke up his arse in the meantime.

[newterp]

Help us Keita, you’re our only hope.

[Jookie]

Back in training back running, not fit for tomorrow but should be fit too soon maybe by the weekend.

This is good news.

He really doesn't need a prolonged absence. Think if we can get him and Fabinho on the pitch semi regularly before Xmas, then in the New Year they'll be able to show their true worth. In the meantime we need to be patient and accept that they'll probably be poor on as many occasions as they are good. That's what we've seen from Keita so far. Flashes of brilliance mixed in with relatively anonymous performances where he looks like he's struggled to get to grips with the system and also the pace of the league.

If they can both start to put 4, 5, 6 decent performances back to back then the competition in our midfield will be really good. Same applies to Lallana.

[Rush 82]

Has he created lots of chances this season so far? Assists wise I'm not sure he has. Think Milner has more. The fella who got the record number of assists in a CL campaign last season.

The idealised version of Keita, the one we saw highlights of for RBL, he was very creative. The fella we've seen so far isn't.

Now that's not to criticise him. He deserves time to get accustomed to all the new things he's taking on - system, language, league, new team mates etc.

But people shouldn't be calling for him to be our midfield saviour. He might be in the long run. But at the moment that is unfair on him and adds too much expectation on his short term performances. I'll be honest I would say so far he hasn't even closely resembled anything like a creative force in a red shirt. But that's fine as long a people recognise that it'll take him time to get there. Let's not blow smoke up his arse in the meantime.

Oh mighty Keita, deliver us from this goal drought

Amen

[hesbighesred]

The alarming thing is that 4 of those where from the 1st game against Wet Ham, but if you think about it most teams set up not to concede at Anfield and therefore play a low block system and make it extremely hard for us to create these so called 'Big Chances'. Mind you that's no excuse as Man City probably have the same issue yet are blowing teams apart.

Although City's while system is designed to unpark bussed. Low block teams are totally playing into their hands but far too few have the balls to try something different because they're terrified of an even worse hiding.

It's interesting that we seem so much more open away.

[redgriffin73]

Not really, according to today's Talking Reds on the TAW youtube channel. They say he's taking courses and that he hopes to be able to speak properly and give interviews in English within 6 months or so.

To be honest I'm a bit surprised he wasn't advised to start learning during the last season since he knew he was coming, but I guess as long as he picks it up pretty quickly it shouldn't matter too much.

[Uncle Ronnie]

To be honest I'm a bit surprised he wasn't advised to start learning during the last season since he knew he was coming, but I guess as long as he picks it up pretty quickly it shouldn't matter too much.

My guess would be that the club were happy to wait until he joined. The fact he was living in a non-English speaking country anyway, and also one that doesn't speak his own native language, he'd only be picking up English from lessons and then not speaking it the rest of the time. Learning a new language is difficult enough at the best of times, never-mind if you only get to speak it a couple of hours a week.

Probably easier to wait until he joins so then the club can use it's own language teacher to help him, and add in the fact he'll be around English speakers every day he'll pick it up quicker.

[rocco]

Help us Keita, you’re our only hope.

Is that from Star Wars

[newterp]

Is that from Star Wars

Hahha for sure.

[rocco]

We could be set to sign his younger brother  Petit Keita, the 17-year-old is currently training with our academy.